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Hotel Alternatives: Jasper Private Home Accommodations

By DH Wall

Looking for a unique and economical place to stay in Jasper National Park? Take a look at private home rentals.

The Jasper Home Accommodation Association website lists over 100 places to stay in Jasper. The listed properties are licensed and inspected private properties operated by individual homeowners. Most of the accommodations are guest bedrooms or 2nd floor suites because the park requires the homeowner to live on-site. Some are Bed and Breakfasts (B&B), offering a home-cooked morning meal.

Accommodations range from ‘a well-appointed room with a comfortable bed’ to a ‘large suite ideal for families’ to the more unique. One accommodation called ‘a little log house’ is a fully self-contained suite located on the second floor of a 1926 log house and within easy walking distance of the train station and downtown Jasper.

The amenities of the private accommodations vary greatly. When a simple room with a bed and a bathroom is all that a visitor needs, a private home accommodation should meet the visitor’s needs. Some accommodations may include a refrigerator, microwave, stove and fully equipped kitchen. Some places to stay have private decks or patios.

Search for private home accommodations on the Jasper Home Accommodation Association’s website here.

Benefits of Private Home Accommodations

My experiences with the “vacation rental by owner” type of accommodation in other parts of the world have been positive. These types of accommodations often have a one-of-a-kind charm that makes the experience a little more memorable.

Prices for private home rentals in Jasper are reasonable and bargains can be had. Local laws are such that taxes (4% Alberta Tourism Levy and 5% federal Goods & Services Tax) are not likely to be charged or required by private home accommodations – unlike hotels. And in many cases the amenities can be more desirable than a similarly priced hotel.

For traveler’s visiting from different environments and far away lands, staying in a home accommodation can be a better way to experience local culture and meet the locals as compared to hotels. The people who own these accommodations love Jasper National Park and made the park a part of their lives.

Limitations

For some travelers, a downside of private home accommodations stems from a lack of a 24-hour reception desk, room service or a hotel pool. Staying in private accommodations requires a sense of adventure, flexibility and a little bit of work.

The home accommodation renters must be contacted individually for availability. To make it easier, homeowner email addresses and phone numbers are listed on the association’s website.

Since private homeowners conduct operations, some can only accept cash as payment. Most require a deposit, usually equivalent to a day’s stay.

For visitors desiring a whole house rental, Jasper is not the place. Homeowners must reside on-site. The priority of the park is the wilderness and wildlife. Land use within the park is highly regulated. According to the Jasper Home Accommodation Association website:

“Because Jasper is in a national park, all development is strictly controlled. To ensure that the park remains as wilderness, the boundaries of the town are fixed; the town cannot grow any larger. Almost no land is available for further development, and housing is already scarce for those who live and work in the town. Consequently, all residential properties must be occupied by someone with a “need to reside” in the park – or by someone who worked in the park for at least five years before retirement.”

Looking for last minute accommodations?

The Jasper Home Accommodation Association website offers an at-a-glance chart that shows the availability of home accommodations in Jasper National Park for the next 7 days. View here. Last minute accommodations during July and August can be impossible to find on weekends and even weekdays. That’s when travelers should consider outlying towns such as Hinton, an hour or so away from Jasper Townsite, but only 30 or so minutes to the first attractions on the eastern side of the park.

For a much larger selection, plan a 3-4 months advance – the more in advance the better. Jasper private home accommodations can be an economical way to a unique Jasper National Park adventure.

17 comments to Hotel Alternatives: Jasper Private Home Accommodations

Great site with lots of important information.
I’ll be travelling in British columbia & Alberta this summer for 14days. I’m looking forward to this journey
Please check out my blog.
greetz from Belgium ;-)

The info about the Jasper Home Accommodation Association website and availability calendar is very helpful for the travelers as they can plan accordingly. The limitations are so well put and are highly useful for the travelers.

We’ve been using this kind of approach to holiday accommodation for a while now, and wouldn’t have it any other way. In our experience, you actually get better service (despite the lack of 24-hour availability) than the equivalently priced hotel accommodation. But why are you telling everybody? – it means we’ll have to book earlier to get a reservation! LOL.

I guess it depends basically on what works for you. I mean, staying in a rental accomodation is a great way to make the first move as a youngster looking for their first home, but its still agreat option while your looking for your first home buy as well as if you are improving your home and don’t want to live on a building site.

yea, I’m with you guys on this one. I really prefer the private accommodations rather than staying in hotels. Having your own private place is much more relaxing than having to deal with so many annoying people.

The importance of choosing a private home over a hotel room is increased to a large extent in cases where you are traveling with children or with elderly people. Children hate being cooped up in a synthetic hotel room. To allow them to really enjoy their vacations, choosing the facilities of accommodation that are provided by a house for rent can be a much better option thanks to the unlimited space that can allow your kids to a get a feel of a home away from home.

WE (family) used to get hotel accommodation when we travel. Just recently we traveled again and because of some positive feedback about private home accommodation, we tried it. It was a great experience because we have some different kind of privacy and it feels like we are really at home.Everything is there and what we need is well provided. We also saved a lot of money.

The benefits of this I think is that it is cheaper compared to hotel rates and the food are freshly cook by the owner of the house. But my advice is that to be careful of choosing the private home accommodation to ensure safety of you and your love ones.

For our family, it was proven that we prefer the home accommodation than those in hotels because of our kids. They easily got bored in the hotel compare to home accommodation that they felt that we are just having a vacation of a friend’s house.

Jasper home accommodation are well known for the customer delight rendered by them.You can get any type of accommodation at affordable.Jasper National Park is one of the oldest and largest national parks in Alberta.It is a popular getaway from urban life and special place to reconnect with nature.
For further information please visit our website jasper-bedandbreakfast.com or contact at +1-780-866-3950.